Part Two Book Five Epic and Autobiographical (A Versified Finale)

An Autobiographical Narrative: 1970s

To See You at Every Time of Day

Is a song lyric, penned in 2003,

But heavily based on one composed

Almost certainly in 1974,

And which I originally sang

In a voice I stole from Bryan Ferry,

Who'd begun his career

As a conventional Glam Rock icon,

But who by '74,

Had reinvented himself as an old-style

Crooner cum matinee idol,

And it was his eccentric version of

These Foolish Things

That was the direct inspiration

For the lyric in question,

Indeed the song as a whole.

To See You Every Time of Day

 

To see you in the morning

Be with you in the evening

To see you here

At every time of day

Such a simple prayer

To see you at every time of day

 

To hold you when you're laughing

Console you when you're crying

Take care of you

At every time of day

Such a simple prayer

To see you at every time of day

 

So tell me why you push me away

When I've sworn to be forever true

When I've pledged

My pure and simple heart to you?

How can you be so cruel?

 

To see you in the morning

Be with you in the evening

To see you here

At every time of day

Such a simple prayer

To see you at every time of day.

An Autobiographical Narrative: 1970s

 

The Athlete, the Poet and the Reprobate

Was based largely on writings

Created possibly as early as 1976.

And as such, it's been reproduced

More or less word for word,

Despite having been recently edited

And subject to basic versification.

And in its original form,

It constituted some kind of

Unfinished fantastical novel

Centred on the titular

Athlete, Poet and Reprobate,

An absurdly self-exalting

Version of the original.

For within less than two decades

Of penning these self-same words,

I'd come to saving faith in Christ Jesus.

 

As to novels reflecting the luxurious lifestyle

Of a bygone age,

None had been even remotely completed

By the time of writing,

And unless I'm grossly mistaken,

I was several years shy of becoming an actor.

That said, the timidity described

Is at least partially accurate,

And I did feel the need to provide

An outward show of my significance

Through a peacock display of dandyism,

Which included

Some wildly idiosyncratic behaviour,

As well as the subtle deployment of cosmetics.

 

The Athlete, the Poet and the Reprobate

 

"I can't decide," she said,

"Whether you're an aesthete

Or an athlete

A poet or a reprobate."

 

"Even when I'm a lout,

I'm an aesthete," he answered,

"I lure, rather than seek."

 

"So why do you

Need to dress up?"

 

"Like Ronald Firbank,

I suffer from a need

To give an outward show

Of my significance.

 

His lifestyle is an uncanny

Parallel

To my own young manhood

 

I alienated people

Through a crippling shyness

Which I disguised

With my violently idiosyncratic

 

Behaviour, wore cosmetics

And wrote novels

That reflected the luxurious

Lifestyle of a bygone age.

 

The sensation

Of never quite belonging

Lingered about me always

That's why

I became an actor.

 

Through heavy experiences

I have built up

A stoned wall

Resistance

Against arrogance and aloofness

 

I am a sophisticated cynic

With a kind heart

And a tendency towards regret."